


End of an Empire

by Red_Leasia



Category: Klayton, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Future, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Original characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-01 05:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11479731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Leasia/pseuds/Red_Leasia
Summary: A Star Wars story set so far into the future that the names Solo and Sky walker are only myth and legend. Ri Marek and Klayton were once best friends in an orphanage on the outer Rim world of Dagelos.  But torn apart by war they meet years later on Yavin 4. Their courses are set when Klayton refuses to kill Ri and when her visions of the future become known she becomes the target to all sides.  Klayton is left struggling with the decision does he bring Ri back to his Emperor and take down the republic he hates so much? Or does he save her by helping her to face the Emperor whose powers have grown so much even his fellow Sith begin to worry about what his true intentions are.





	1. Deady Reunion

The lush vegetation covered a landscape of scarred ancient temples. The builders were long forgotten. But Yavin 4 was still famous for the many battles that had torn across it's surface over the ages. Its history was almost as well-documented as the central world, Coruscant.

Rí Marek, was simply taking part in the latest conflict. A new Empire dedicated to the Dark side of the Force had arisen outside the Galactic Republic. Naturally the Jedi were against the Sith as they had chosen to name themselves on any terms. But the Republic after years of peace wanted to talk. They had even invited the representatives of the Sith Empire to have a seat on the Republic's Council.

None of that mattered to Rí. She'd come from the Outer Rim. The Sith Empire had been in her back yard her entire childood. Politics were not her forte. She was disinclined to believe anything the Sith Empire presented. Her prejudices came from years growing up enduring raids, the death of family members, and battles fought all over her world.

Naturally, she had volunteered to investigate a Sith presence on Yavin 4.

Which was how she'd come to be trailing through the Jungles of Yavin 4, scouting alone.

Her long dark hair was pulled back in a braid that ran down her back and was streaked with blue. Three matching blue lines were tattooed downward over her right eye and down her cheek. It was one of the few customs she brought from her home world of Dagelos.

Battle was her escape from the tedium of Coruscant. While she hated unnecessary death, she loved to fight. During battle, her mind would clear and fighting was her sole purpose. She was a true Dageli, their culture was a small warrior society. At least it had been until the world's annexation into the Republic two generations ago.

And if the Sith Empire wanted to skirmish along the outer Rim worlds while the center played politics? So be it. Ri didn't mind, even knowing she was skirting the dark side with her thoughts. With the political bickering that happened even in the Jedi Temple as well as the Senate no one was taking the time to warn one Jedi Knight that they shouldn't get excited to fight Sith.

There were a few Sith on the ground among the ruins here. Mostly their droids crawled over the surface. The buildings already long scarred from centuries of warfare.

_And here we are again._

The droid came out of nowhere.

She paused her forward momentum to slice it neatly into. It had been rolled into a ball, but upright it would have moved swiftly on three legs and presented with a shield that she would have had to disable to cause it some damage. But on the move they couldn't pull up the shield. Ri shrugged off the destroyed battle droid. Worst design flaw ever.

Blood spotted her brown robe, there were three dead Sith acolytes behind her already. Rí knew the fight would be won if her former master met her on the other side of the gully.

Rí had been scouting when the attack on their group came. There were ten Jedi at the main camp. They had managed to send a message and then radio silence.

An unregistered ship had landed on the planet. It failed to answer the hails of the locals. Alarmed they asked for the Jedi to investigate.

No mention of droids had been reported.  _They should have droids,_  Rí thought. They're Sith.

But that didn't matter now. Survival was all that mattered. Getting back to the others.

Rí was good at survival.

She stepped out into a clearing to see a black clad man. He looked as if he were listening, but Rí could sense he was scanning the area with the Force. He was good at hiding his presence. Rí hadn't noticed him before setting eyes on him.

For some reason, he hadn't sensed her either.

She gave a quick scan of the clearing and not seeing anyone else she moved forward.

The man pivoted realizing he wasn't alone. He gave a start of surprised when he laid eyes on her. He had shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes with more than few scars on his face. He hissed and immediately drew his saber.

The air seemed to thicken as both drew on their respective sides of the Force.

Whether he was an apprentice or the Master she would soon find out.

He moved towards her, his steps slow and deliberate as he studied her. "And to whom do I owe this honor?"

"Honor is for those who die nobly, Sith." Rí said to gauge his response. Rí made no move towards him, not yet. She wanted to see what he would do first. She preferred to always let her enemy make the first move. It gave her time to study their actions.

"Well said, Jedi." He charged towards her swinging his red saber in a violent circle. She drew her light saber catching his blade on its downward arc.

Rí immediately recognized the Juyo forms she had studied on Coruscant. They were quick and designed to bring down an opponent in short order. His next moves would be to corner and confuse her.

They would have if Rí herself had not trained for years in Vaapad, a variant created by a Jedi over a millennium ago. Vaapad was considered too close to the dark side. Forbidden to most Jedi except a few Jedi Knights known as Guardians, it was passed down only to a few.

He rushed swinging his saber wildly. She gave ground he sought before moving into Soresu. Moving into Soresu she would conserve energy and shift into a more defensive fighting technique. She danced nimbly side to side outside of his strike zone, blocking and parrying, allowing the Sith to wear himself out.

After a few moments Rí noticed his swings growing sluggish. She moved in closer to take advantage of a gap when one wild swing sliced into her robe. She smelled the burned fabric long before she saw it. She flipped backwards away from him landing on her feet.

His grin was malicious.

"Still not first blood." Rí responded managing a tight smile. She'd been over confident in controlling the fight. A costly mistake on her part.

He was breathing hard. Rí knew immediately this fight needed to be over before anyone else arrived. He had more stamina than she did. He would outlast her in an all-out brawl.

She attacked, whirling and spinning, her own saber a blue blur as she moved into his reach. It was difficult to move over the terrain but she managed to back him into a tree. His back hit and he paused leaving an opening. Rí sliced into his left arm horizontally, slicing the muscle and bone. The arm flopped, useless. Just a little closer and she could have made a clean cut. More blood patterned the ground.

His surprised pleased her in a way it shouldn't have. But she allowed herself a moment of pleasure at the look on his face. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

She was about to strike a killing blow when something pulsed in the back of her mind. A presence she hadn't sensed in over twenty years. In her shock, she backed up and tripped over a root, landing hard on her side. Her saber clicking off as she went down.

The Sith readily took advantage of the moment, advancing on her with his only arm swinging. Rí cursed and was forced to scramble away on her back as he stumbled towards her. He raised the saber and plunged it into her chest.

"Am I not to know the name of the Jedi Knight I just killed?" He spoke into her face.

She was shaking beneath him, from what he had assumed was a death blow. "If you killed one," She gasped. "Maybe."

He turned his eyes down towards her chest and saw his own light saber protruding Right into her hand. But not out of the other side into her body.

She was shaking with the effort it took to absorb that much energy.

She wouldn't be able to maintain it forever.

His eyes widened in surprised. "What are you?"

The snap hiss of Rí's light saber stabbing through his chest ended his questions. His light saber fell from his fingers and the red blade died.

He collapsed to the side his eyes opened wide in shock.

Rí gasped as she felt the energy fade away and she could release. It was as if she'd been holding her breath underwater, had broken the surface and could breathe again.

"Rí," She muttered to the corpse. "Not that you'll tell anyone."

 _Stupid, we could have at least questioned him on what they were doing out there_. She berated herself and then stared down at her robes.

Bloodstains covered the front. A small slice into her waist that could have ended her.

Something had broken her concentration.

She paused trying to figure out what had happened. Her steps had been perfect until that presence. The presence was still there in the back of her mind. It was as if someone had shoved a ball inside her head and it was radiating pressure.

_No, not pressure._

_Emotions._

Abandoning her original intent to meet back up with the rest of her party she moved away in the direction that the presence felt strongest in.

The metallic tang of blood drifted in the thick air. Rí's fingers drifted across the vine covered wall as she moved. The end of the battle had come and yet she felt the Force shift inside of her. This way... She ignored the heat, the smells, everything as the Force pulled her. Training drilled into her since childhood told her to listen to her feelings.

 _Klayton?_  His presence was unmistakable.

She was now 33 standard years old. Every encounter she had with the Sith she would reach out for him. But he had never felt this close before, and the only explanation was that they were finally on the same world.

Her connection with him was strong. It had always been strong. Even as children they'd always been able to reach out mentally to one another.

He was here. He had to be.

The link exploded with emotions which had never happened before. She wondered if that meant he was paying as much attention to her as she was to him. That gave her pause even as she wanted to continue rushing forward. What would he see? What would they say to one another?

Rí's sole devotion had been to fight the Sith and rescuing the one who had saved her when they were children.

Guilt pulsated through Rí as she roughly forced the memories away.

Almost moving blindly, no longer paying attention to her surroundings she followed. Allowing the link to be her guide.

The link felt alive. Angry. 

_Close..._

She closed her eyes and focused.

She never remembered Klayton as being angry. But it been 22 years since she had seen him.

Without taking thought on what she was doing she began to run. Leaves slapped at her face as she moved quickly, her feet pounding on the ground, her heart pounding in her chest matching the rhythm.

Suddenly she skidded to a stop. The Force was tugging at her...and another one of her gifts began manifesting.

"No, not now...," she groaned, helpless as it overtook her.

The one she never shared with anyone...except for him. He knew.

The vision hit her before she could completely stop moving and she fell to her knees in the dirt.

_The man was in front of her in an instant. He had red and black hair, was dressed in black and his hardened expression told her everything she needed to know about his intentions. His red saber clicked off as he reached for her throat. She didn't move and was suddenly horrified that this man should be familiar to her somehow._

_"Have you come to kill me?" He got out..._

The vision left her abruptly. Rí found herself panting, on her knees, surrounded by green jungle. The sun was going down swiftly. Her gift, or her curse as she thought of it was a connection that allowed her to see the future.

She pondered what the vision meant as she forced herself to her feet and moved forward again.

Ri had never told anyone about the visions. The gift managed to conceal itself from others, as if it had a mind of its own, the visions never manifested in the presence of others. At night she would dream, no one would hear her. Another reason she hated to be on Coruscant. Too many ears.

She continued an even pace that she could maintain for hours, the Force augmenting her steps as she moved. The link tugged her south towards the smaller of the Temples. She tried to remember what was there but couldn't pick it out of her thoughts.

The vegetation opened into a clearing. The Force pulled her eyes upwards.

He was standing on top of a rocky outcrop red saber in hand brown eyes scanning around wildly. His bright red and black hair pulled to the Right contrasted so much with his black clothes and cape that swirled around him.

Rí gave a short laugh of recognition.

It was him. He was a Sith.

Rí stopped at the base of the ruins and stared, unable to form a coherent thought.

The vision she'd a had a moment ago, she couldn't believe she hadn't recognized him. His hair of course would have seemed odd anywhere else. The bright red mohawk was a signature hair style worn on their home world.

He glanced in her direction. The dark brown eyes that used to be so warm with laughter were cold and unreadable.

Their gazes locked. In that moment, she knew that he had been drawn here just as she had.

"Klayton?" It was an audible voice to her thoughts that brought on a storm of emotion from him.

This she had not expected. He was the enemy...

The link they shared suddenly felt white, hot, and angry. It burned like a firebrand. Both of them put a hand to their temples and grimaced, as they stared at each other.

She held out both of her hands in what she hoped was a submissive gesture.

"Klayton...I..." She wasn't sure what to say. It's been a long time certainly didn't cut it. He stared at her but so far had remained silent. The anger took her breathe away.

When they were children they had at first marveled at the connection they shared. Making a game of it, never sharing the ability with anyone else. But now as two full grown adults in close proximity she could feel his awareness of her as if she were inside of him. Briefly she knew he was experiencing the same. In a moment she was aware of every breathe he took, every heartbeat, every sensation he was feeling.

_Rage._

Then it was as if he'd slammed a door shut between them. It cut off. But not entirely, he couldn't block her out completely, it was as if he'd muted himself against her. Like hearing the muffled sounds in the next room through the closed door.

 _I can't fight him. I owe him my life._ Every battle she'd been through had not prepared her for this possibility.

He ignited his light saber and leapt down from the rocky surface until he was level with her. His impact sent dust flying up between them. The light from the sun was slipping steadily beyond the horizon. She cast a long shadow at his feet.

She took a step back as he advanced on her, a single tear slipping down her cheek. He hesitated when he saw it. Uncertainty suddenly crossed to her from their connection. She was amazed that with all the hate and anger he was feeling he had not severed their link years ago.

"Have you come to kill me?" He snarled the question at her. Suddenly Rí understood the anger, it was more than just anger. He felt betrayed. She had shown up as the enemy.

His enemy.

This was not how she had pictured finding him. She'd always thought of him as a slave, it never occurred to her that he would become a Sith. He'd had such faith in the Jedi when they were younger. They'd spent hours talking about it. The Jedi would rescue them, guard their world.

It never happened for either of them.

Still if it wasn't for him, she would have been in his place.

That thought alone made her do what seemed like madness.

She watched him tense as she pulled her light saber from her belt. Her hands trembled as she opened her fingers and the light saber dropped hitting the dirt with a thud.

Surprises radiated from him before he smothered it again and in one smooth moment her light saber sailed through the air and was in his hand.

"Kill her Lord Aden," a new voice came from above. Another Sith dressed in black stood above them. Rí guessed this was his Master.

Klayton flinched but said nothing as his eyes flicked back from the saber to Rí again.

"You see what she is now, what she has become." He continued. "Give her what she deserves."


	2. Head Games

Lord Aden stared at Rí.

He had known Ri would be a Jedi. Counted on it, thinking it would be easier to kill her and be done with that part of his life.

It wasn't and that was a problem.

He had forgotten how much they connected when they were younger. Almost moving as one. Their proximity had thrown open the door wide to their link. He was experiencing her surprise and shock like it was his own. Hearing his childhood name had thrown him. Called up memories he'd chosen to forget. Things he did not want to relive

And...

Her resolve...to what? Find him? Save him? He laughed. It was a ridiculous idea that he needed saving, but still he pulled that out of her mind.

 _I need to end this,_ he thought as a trickle of panic bled through. Now was not the time to have doubts! Definitely not the time for second thoughts. There could be no other reason for them both to be here. He had both light sabers in his hands. She had given hers up easily enough.

Did she expect mercy?

He could give her a quick death. She had been his childhood friend. With her death, his training would be complete and he could leave Master Degan.

There were always more Jedi to kill as the Sith pushed into the Galactic Republic. It was like a ripe fruit ready to be plucked by someone who took the initiative. He was more than ready. He more reason than most to hate the Republic.

He had made the mistake of mentioning Rí once to his master as a child when he was first taken. What he thought was something he could use to defy Degan became the tool that Degan pounded him with. She would betray him. Degan made sure he knew Jedi were weak...

Slowly the boy that had saved Rí made way for the man who had believed she deserved death...

And yet by dropping her light saber she seemed more than willing to take what she deserved.

His hands shook with her feelings pushing through. _I owe her nothing._ None of it made sense. He could hear his heart, he could feel hers. _Just kill her and walk away._

He wanted more than that though. If she had plotted to kill him, after he saved her life, she had betrayed him. He wanted her to suffer.

He had ways of making her suffer...

He reached out to her mentally, first he prodded the edges of a mental shield he found around her mind. As he reached out mentally he walked toward her, admiring her courage, as she didn't back away.

He wanted to see her guilt. Hold it in his hand as undeniable proof. The need to know the truth became overwhelming.

And then he would destroy her.

Her mental shield simply dropped away as his prodding. _Weak. Like any other Jedi._  Disgust after everything he was feeling swelled through him. He hooked her light saber to his belt as he came closer, and still she made no move.

He kept his eyes on hers as he reached up and wrapped both hands around Ri's throat. Still she did nothing.

More tears came then but he ignored them. She didn't protest,but she was afraid. She was small enough that he could easily lift her off her feet. Her legs dangled underneath as he pulled her off the ground. Not even a hint of her pulling at the Force. 

No retaliation came as he slammed her into the ground. Not as hard as he could have but hard enough to cause pain. He grimaced as he felt it from her.

He sat on top of her stomach pinning her down with his body. His hands still wrapped around her throat. "Have you come to kill me, Ri?" He asked her staring at her steadily. Her blue eyes met his, her small hands gripped his wrists.

She said nothing. She could not have replied now even if she wanted to. He waited a moment for her to draw on the Force to stop him. Yet still, she did nothing.

 _Klayton, please, no..._ He heard the mental plea and felt the emotional turmoil behind it. She didn't voice it out loud. He realized she was experiencing some sort of shock, and had not expected to see him like this. He kept his face close to hers, he wanted to see every bit of pain he caused. He forced the connection wide open again because he wanted to feel her in pain as well. He was going to read her memories and if she was guilty there would be no hiding it from him.

For a brief moment he felt a sensation as if he was falling and the confusion of looking up at himself. He felt a moment of shock at his intense face and then he was past and into her mind, pushing back any thoughts or blocks she might throw up.

It was called mind invasion and he was especially adept at it. He could cause extreme stress with someone's mind simply by tampering with their memories.

Extreme pain as well.

Aden ripped in. There was a wrongness that built up in the back of his mind. He pushed that away. He wanted to see the moment that she turned against him. He had believed it for so long. It had been hammered into him, it must be there.

He imagined himself mentally slashing down the barriers into her innermost being. She managed to drag in enough air to scream. The pain was only in her mind, where it would be the worst. He could feel her struggle to fight against the pain. But still oddly enough not against him. It almost made him quit...choose an easier way for her to die.

Almost.

Her legs kicked uselessly underneath him, but she did not draw on the Force to throw him away.

He almost stopped.

What she was feeling, he was sensing also. But he had come this far. Here he could turn her into a vegetable or make her his slave. Whatever he chose. He heard the last thoughts she had... _Klayton see me..._

Pushing past that he drove further in. Past her training, everything was quite vivid. He was looking for something specific further back, the last day they had seen each other on Dagelos.

There it was hovering, large like a picture you hung on a wall because you wanted to see it every day. He thought it would be harder to find. Mostly because he no longer remembered that day as the day as clearly as he should. He remembered it as the day she'd gotten away and left him behind.

It was Rí's last memory of him, he watched it and his hands loosened in astonishment. His face was still stuck firmly in front of hers when he saw memories she had not shared with anyone else. He was no longer seeing her face.

_Her vow to save him made in the dirt on Dagelos, THAT day..._

_Her secret; that she had Force Visions, she could see the Future. He had known since they were children, but she had never told anyone else..._

_Her mind always returned to that day repeatedly. When she trained, when she fell, she thought about that day and returned instantly to working harder._

_Her struggle to maintain the rules of the temple, her small attempts at rebelling, her enjoyment of fighting..._

_Again, and again she returned to the idea of him being alive. She could feel him..._

_And then finally, I can't fight him, I owe him my life._

_The dropped light saber..._

_...Klayton, see me..._

The memories were a staggering blow to his reality. How much strength it had taken to not take up her weapons against him even though she was afraid, how much she trusted him not to kill her... The memories themselves were worse than any physical blow she could have given him.

Aden blinked suddenly back in his own mind, and glanced down at Ri seeing her again, for the first time. A strangled gasp came out of his own mouth.

She'd never betrayed him.

Never...

His yanked his hands off her throat and suddenly realizing she wasn't making a sound.

"Rí!" _Come back!_ He pulled her to his chest agonized over the bruising that was forming around her neck. She dragged in a stuttering breath and he realized with relief she was still breathing.

Like him she'd held on to their traditions from home in the hope that someday she would go back. She believed they would go back together. She had marked herself in the style of their world. He gingerly ran his fingers down the blue lines over the right side of her face. He had not seen marks like them in years. They marked a warrior who had completed their training. It had been years since he'd seen anyone from home. His throat worked as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

"Kill her and be done with it, Lord Aden." Degan said again impassively. Aden had forgotten his Master was behind him. "You are letting your emotions get the better of you, dragging it out like this."

He laid Ri down and her eyes fluttered open and focused on him for a moment. Then she turned on her side and vomited. It was a normal reaction to what had just happened to her, and he knew her head would ache for days.

She turned back to him trying to rise, her eyes fluttered. She collapsed against the ground unconscious. Completely at his mercy.

He thought back to his previous assessment. She trusted me not to kill her.

"Such is the nature of the beast." Degan moved to stand behind Aden. "Kill her and let's be done with it. This place is lost to us. We need to leave here."

"You lied to me." His voice was low, barely above a whisper. He turned around and faced Degan, studying him meticulously. His hand strayed to his light saber dangling from his belt. He pulled it off.

He had studied under Degan for the past twenty years but he bore no love for the man.

Degan had done everything to break him and mold him into a Sith, and for the most part succeeded. He'd also given him a new name: 'Lord Aden.'

At this moment as he faced his Master...

Former Master, he corrected, he was thinking of himself as Klayton. Not Aden, as he was used to being. Hearing Ri call to him with his old name had startled him. He hadn't known how to respond. His own birth name, he hadn't heard in twenty-two years. It opened something in him.

He clicked his light saber on.

"You are finally going to challenge me?" Degan sounded surprised. It was common practice before for an Apprentice to offer up the challenge to the Master. It had been forbidden by the council of Brethren recently because of the War against the Jedi. They wanted to keep their numbers high.

It was a mostly ideological war. The Galactic Republic thus far had stayed neutral, even as the Jedi battled the Sith on the edges of their realm.

Degan eyed him and clicked his own light saber on.

"I suppose this was going to happen eventually Aden."

"Actually, it's Klayton." He tasted the sound of his name. It thrilled and terrified him at the same time.

Degan looked at him in surprise. "You would betray us for the Jedi?"

"No, not the Jedi. Just her." Klayton couldn't help the shudder of revulsion that pulsed through him at the thought of helping a Jedi. He wasn't shedding that much of his identity.

Degan attacked first swinging his light saber down in a swinging arc. Klayton sidestepped and used a kinetic shove to knock Degan off balance. It did not push Degan as far as he had hoped and they circled each other warily.

Degan had two decades of experience on Klayton even if Klayton had a very strong connection to the Force. Klayton was younger and faster. Degan was more experienced. He never attempted a battle he was uncertain he could win.

Klayton's mental abilities with the force were strong and he used that to his advantage now. He probed Degan's mind looking for a way in past the hard shield while simultaneously blocking Degan's thrusts.

They both moved through complicated forms of Juyo, an aggressive and unpredictable style favored by the Sith. It could overwhelm opponents but left you open to attack.

Klayton knew he looked calm, but inside he was rolling emotionally. This was a confrontation due to happen for some years now. Not many Apprentices stayed on with their Master's as long as he had. Klayton's time being studious in the Sith archives hadn't helped.

Degan threw a slicing arch at his side that he barely managed to deflect. He felt the stab of pain as the tip of Degan's saber burned through his clothing on his left side. Nothing serious but it was a distraction he couldn't afford. Degan's saber's blurred in front of him leaving him staggering backwards and out of the way. But not unscathed, for a moment his entire left eye had been completely blinded by red. He could still see, he knew that a line must have been cut there. He was shocked at how close he had come to losing his eye. The very tip must have grazed him.

Only when Degan paused did Klayton strike out with his own sabers. He needed to move quickly if he was going to overwhelm Degan. Degan had struck first in an attempt to bring him down. Klayton avoided the whirling blades as best as he could.

He could feel his own heart pounding in excitement.

My turn, he thought bringing his own blade up. His eyes narrowed as he focused on Degan. He feinted to the left but moved to the right blade spinning managing to nick Degan's right arm in the process. Blood dripped on the ground. The sight of it only drove Klayton to move faster. His blade becoming a blur as the Force flowed him augmenting the flow of his arms.

Degan was not seriously injured. The nick simply made him furious. His own pace picked up and the two of them became two sides of an infinite circle of loops. Blades whirling, and hitting, blood flying from Degan's arm in drips. Neither over powering the other.

In the end, it was Degan's lunge toward Rí that did it. Whether he meant to or not Klayton was never going to know. The feint towards Rí sent a surge of rage and desperation through Klayton that he'd never tapped into before.

Degan had backpedaled out of Klayton's saber range. His eyes flicked to Rí who was stirring on the ground behind him. Up until that moment they had ignored her inert form. He was moving faster than Klayton could catch up and raising his saber.

Fortunately, while Degan was in top form he was not the most creative Force User. Certain he was out of Klayton's reach he brought his light saber down in a wide arc across Rí's face.

All Ri could see for a few moments was the bright red light saber descending on her.

She would have screamed if she could have but Klayton did it for her. A loud inhumane noise that sounded like a creature from some remote jungle erupted out of his throat. Lightning erupted from his fingertips as he flung his light saber away. He caught Degan in the back with a stream of electricity. He pulled him away from Rí keeping up the stream as Degan screamed, unable to catch the flow and send it back to Klayton.

Klayton dropped him after a moment unable to maintain the stream of electricity. His former master struggled back to his feet badly burned, blood dripping out of his nostrils. Klayton sank to a knee worn out. His hand strayed to his belt again, remembering he had tossed his saber. His fingers wrapped around another light saber. He realized it was Rí's saber that he had snatched up earlier.

Ironic.

In intense pain Degan clumsily attacked him, moving into a sweeping form that would have been devastating to Klayton if Degan had been in any state to fight. Klayton managed to grab an arm and send a shock wave back into Degan but this close Degan returned it and both screamed in pain. Klayton managed to hold onto Degan's sword arm and plunged Rí's blade at Degan's chest clicking the blade on at the same time.

Blue shot out of the back of Degan's black covered backside, cauterizing the wound permanently open. Degan went to his knees again unable to stop the lightning this time from tearing him apart as Klayton unleashed a full storm of anger and rage on him screaming the whole time. He didn't let up until he felt the tips of his own fingers burning. The pain broke him out of a trance and he let go of the lightning completely shocked at the state of Degan's body.

The Force drained out of him and he sank to his knees panting, utterly spent.

Degan lay on the ground face up, his face completely blackened, his eye sockets empty. The stench of burned flesh permeated the air.

Bile rose in Klayton's throat. He knew what Force lightning was capable of, but seeing it up close was different.

Klayton bore a new mark that he knew would scar. A straight line that sliced his cheek open and continued over his eye. He touched it gingerly and decided it could wait till later.

He staggered to his feet and moved clumsily back to Rí's side where she lay. He would have been an easy target for any enemy right now. He sank back to his knees next to her exhausted and leaned against a rock jutting out of the ground that resembled a large tombstone.

"Klay—" she started. She was half sitting up, Klayton knew her head had to have been killing her after what he had done.

"Don't," he started. Her neck was purple, guilt blossomed in him. He had done that to her."Don't move," he said, "It's going to take some time to recover."

"I saw—" What you did. She coughed and her voice was hoarse. He knew what she meant though. She'd witnessed Degan's killing at his hand. He couldn't look at her then, the bruising, her laying there. He couldn't deny the feelings of revulsion that suddenly passed through him. She was helpless, and his training demanded that he kill her. But at the same time he felt protective and almost possessive of her.

They were both from Dagelos. She had upheld their customs. He wanted to ask if she'd been home.

He still had both light sabers and he offered both to her. She grasped hers and pushed his back to him. Then she reached up with both hands and pulled on his shoulders, managing to pull herself up. He assisted her surprising himself in the process.

"I'm sorry Rí," he whispered it again. He felt her small arms wrap around his chest and his arms encircled her in return as she started to sob.

It was awkward. Klayton realized that for twenty-two years he'd never touched another human except to bring violence down up on them. He'd certainly never comforted anyone.

"I did it, I found you." Her voice was hoarse as she whispered it into his chest.

"You did." He wasn't sure how else to respond. He kept his arms around her though. It helped to not be able to see her face. He had killed many , and guilt had never been a feeling he associated with it. He wanted to run away, to process it. If she wasn't in this state, he might have.

"Come back with me." Her arms tightened around him. Or tried to. She didn't have the strength to maintain the grip. They loosened again as she leaned against his armor.

"I can't." He said looking over her shoulder as he held her. Too much blood on my hands, he thought. I will never be accepted to a place like that. She didn't stay awake very long, curled up into his chest, she promptly fell asleep again. He looked down at her face. Pinched and wan, blood from Degan's arm was sprayed across her forehead in a single line. There was blood all over her clothing and he briefly wondered who else she'd run into today.

He pulled his glove off and wiped it the blood away. The physical contact startled him and he was glad she was unconscious for the moment. He wouldn't have known what to say if she asked. He let his fingers drift across her cheek for a moment as he studied her.

The connection both thrilled and made him uncomfortable at the same time. He wasn't sure what to make of it. He pulled her closer and suddenly her braid brushed against his hand. He pulled it forward and examined the colors in it. He was homesick for his world and his people. Dagelos was a colorful world. Ri was a testament to that. Her three tattooed blue lines over the right side of her face, the same color streaked in her hair once indicated a warrior who'd completed elite training. He ran his fingers across the braid still fascinated by the memories a single touch had dredged up.

It was also disturbing that so little could cause so much. He hastily dragged his glove back on and leaned back against the tall stone that was behind him and closed his eyes.

He had no idea how long they sat like that in the dark but swath of light pulsed over and then returned to them startling him awake. He still had his arms wrapped around her holding her firmly against his chest.

He glanced up to make sure it wasn't a Sith scouting party.

Odd now, to be hunted by both sides.

The Jedi that stood before him did not ignite his light saber. But it was clear that he was shocked to find Rí being held by a Sith. He said nothing as he took in the dead Sith, the unconscious Jedi, and Klayton's arms wrapped around Ri. Something significant had happened here that he did not quite understand.

Klayton, sensing only the one Jedi, did nothing. He was loathed to release her into the care of a stranger. She was asleep and would be for some time. A mind invasion drained energy simply by the amount of pain it caused.

"Klayton..." she said in her sleep when he shifted.

The Jedi had moved closer. Klayton tightened his arms possessively. Up until that moment he hadn't considered any other option other than taking her with him until she was well.

This Jedi changed things. He couldn't take Ri away and fight a Jedi at the same time. Not that he wasn't tempted. But he was unsettled, his future was no longer clear.

"May I help her?" He was older with graying hair at the temples spreading to what was once dark brown hair. His warm brown eyes reflected the concern he was feeling.

Klayton's arms tightened around Rí once again. He felt the flood of possessiveness which took him by surprise. Ri was not his in any sense of the word. He stayed tense for a moment, his hand straying toward his light saber.

He made a decision.

He released her, laying her gently on the ground. He stared at her face for a moment in the darkness. He traced the blue lines again aware that the Jedi was watching him. He wanted to take in every detail of her face before he left her for good.

Klayton did not expect to see her again.

The Jedi moved to her side as Klayton backed away. He turned around and walked out into the night without looking back.

I'm sorry, Ri, he sent to her. He hoped she heard him.


	3. Now What?

The visions came and went.

Ri was uncertain of their order and could barely place them in the past or the future. At times they didn't make sense. She was swimming through a vast ocean of memories that were her's but fell out of place and time.

_Klayton teasing her as a child._

_Seeing him again on Yavin 4._

_Both of them standing in a sandy desert surround by dead bodies. Klayton moving around them, lifting hoods and checking faces. What were they looking for? When she tried seeing the answer the vision spun away from her._

_Klayton running through a dark tunnel alone. He was communicating with her but she was... somewhere else? She was shouting at him to not give up. The vision dissolved when she tried to see her own surroundings._

_Klayton standing with her in the Jedi Council. Their gazes locked on him as he tried to explain what they were up against. As she strained to hear him, she lost that vision as well._

_He had a tight grip on her hand and he turned to her asking, "Where are we?" They were on a hill together, the entirety of the solar system laid out in front of them._

_The stars winking out, blackness stretching across the cosmos._

_A voice speaking: "All will be mine."_

_And finally, Klayton pressing her against the wall and dropping his face down towards her and his lips crushed against hers..._

Startled Ri's eyes snapped open and she was momentarily blinded by the bright lights. Her hand flew up to cover her eyes and she took stock of her surroundings. She was in the Infirmary on Coruscant. A groan escaped her lips before she could suppress it.

The Jedi Temple sat on a concentration of what was considered Light Side energy on Coruscant.

For Ri, it meant every time she closed her eyes to sleep, she had a vision. Oddly enough no one had ever discovered her secret. It meant living in the Temple of the Prophets for the rest of your days, writing down what you saw. Ri surmised that there had been no living Jedi with a connection to the Future like her for generations. It was not a natural dark side ability but it appeared to have been lost to the light as well.

_Or maybe we're not as much in the light as we think we are._

A shadow filled the doorway. "I see you are awake?" Seneschal her former Master moved into the room. He grabbed the plain white chair that was next to the door and pulled it closer to her sinking into it. His long white hair pulled back over his shoulders was the only betrayal of his age.

"How long have I been here?"

"A month," he admitted.

Ri stifled another groan.

"I can see you are not happy to be here." Seneschal grinned. It was no secret that Ri spent most of her time off Coruscant fighting. She'd been on many battlefields, preferring to avoid the Temple if she could help it. She had thus far avoiding taking on a padawan as well.

"Merda!" She muttered to herself, cursing in her native Dageli. Seneschal shook his head. Her habits from home still permeated her vocabulary. Her common was clean, but he was glad that Dagelon was so far out on the outer rim that most beings were unfamiliar with the language.

"What happened on Yavin 4?" He asked, lowering his voice, his eyes searching hers.

Ri turned away, prefering to stare at the floor. "I was hoping you could tell me. I don't remember much before..."  _Klayton attacked me._

That didn't come out of her mouth. Her memory started to clear further. Fuzzy memories of Klayton fighting his Master, seeing a red light saber coming down on her. Klayton using force lightning, killing him. The memories came back faster. He had looked inside her mind, it was the worst experience she'd ever had fighting with a Sith.

He'd killed his Master and not her.

 _Why? Where was he?_  She stared at Seneschal for a moment, she had no answers. She could feel him reaching out, attempting to gauge her mind. She said nothing further.

"He must care for you very much to do what it looked like he did." His eyes searched hers. "To betray his own and not kill you. That takes a lot of strength."

"I don't understand." She was still trying to process the whirlwind of visions she'd experienced. The last one was the most unsettling, and the most unlikely. Worse because it was the last it was the most vivid.

"You know the tests Sith go through."

That snapped her back to the present. She did understand the tests. They severed their connections to their home by killing someone they were close to. Something that meant they could never return, they were fully committed to the dark side of the Force.

_He chose me._

Her head swam at the realization. She gripped the side of the bed to keep from laying back. Seneschal carried on. "When I came upon you both, he was holding you up. I did not think he was going to let you go, on the contrary...I thought he might actually fight me."

"So...he just left?"

Seneschal nodded. "Stepped out into the night and vanished."

Ri said nothing to that. The memories were coming back. She remembered sobbing into Klayton's chest now, she had been in a lot of pain. He hadn't come back with her after all...but...

He had held her? And he let her go.  

And the visions...were they going to come to pass or a stream that was passing away quickly? The future wasn't set in stone. She knew this, but it didn't stop the possibilities from each line. A single tiny stream started out making it's way towards an ocean on many worlds. But even in the earliest stages a single pebble could disrupt its course. Eventually it would go so far and become so fixed in its course that nothing would stand in it's way. Ri pondered for a moment. Was she the pebble or the stream?

"You want to find him." It wasn't a question. Ri's eyes snapped up only to find her former master staring at her with a grave expression on his face.

"I have been looking for your friend." He folded his hands across his lap as a mischievous smirk spread across his face. The seriousness of the conversation eased.

Rí sat up straighter. "And?"

"It seems he has quite a gift for mind control, unparalleled mental abilities really..."

Seneschal noticed her puzzled look and grinned. "We found him on Telos. Living alone, It's another border world, barely populated, probably because of it's location. From what I understand he shows up for food and supplies and heads out into the Mountains again."

"Food and supplies..." Rí repeated, not sure if she was hearing him correctly. She stared at Seneschal.

"We did send a four party delegation," Seneschal said. He couldn't quite hide the amusement in his voice.

Rí wasn't sure what was so funny. "What did they do?"

"What did THEY do?" Seneshcal lifted an eyebrow. "They did nothing, he ordered them to return to the Temple... in fact he controlled them. We aren't sure how but he did not harm them in anyway. He simply sent them home."

Rí's mind was racing.

_Klayton was on Telos._

_She wasn't going to have to find him._

_Maybe he would talk to her._

_Maybe, just maybe, she was the stream, or the river rushing towards whatever the Force was guiding her towards._

"What happened on Yavin 4 with the other Sith? You haven't answered the question. The other Sith was fried. Did he do that?" Seneschal's voice pulled her out of her own thoughts. She dragged her eyes towards him wishing he would just go away for five minutes. Her head was pounding.

"The other Sith attacked me." Rí explained as she nodded. It was some of the truth, or at least as much as she wanted to divulge.

Seneschal sighed. "I'm going to give you permission to use my ship for the next sixty days. The council sees him— "

"Klayton."

"... sees Klayton, as a problem. He's a wayward Sith but he's inside our boundary. They were hoping because he saved you that you could go and speak with him."

"He wants to see me?"

"I didn't say that, he doesn't seem to want to see anyone. But the council wishes you to go. He may or may not want to see you."

Rí looked up at him. She was not sure she'd heard him correctly. She thought she would have to sneak to Telos.

"You look surprised."

"Sorry, I... do you think he'll speak with me?"

Seneschal paused for a moment. He remembered seeing the way that Klayton had held Rí when she was semi-conscious. "I think that he must have cared very much for you to stop another Sith from killing you. I don't see why not."

"And I can go alone?"

Seneschal hesitated. "You can meet Klayton alone...but we've been ordered to go with you."

"We?" She gave him a pointed look, dread setting in.  _Merda!_  She immediately knew who they had chosen to go with her and Seneschal. A string of curses in her home tongue erupted in her mind. Dageli was a colorful language. She kept them in her head.

"When can we leave?"

"When you are ready, we figured you'd need a few days...and the council wants to have a word. And by word they want to yell at you for a bit on being reckless...again." He placed a hand on her arm. "Ri, the council sees Klayton as a threat. You must convince him to join with us. Or at least aid us. He's quite powerful, he would have to be if he is the one who fried the other Sith to death. If he does not, at some point they will send someone to deal with him. He is inside the Republic Boundary. While he is not bothering anyone currently they won't let him stay there forever. You know that."

Ri's heart sank. She did know, but she also knew Klayton was no longer a threat, however powerful he might be. She couldn't convince them without revealing herself. Shame washed through whenever it came to doing her duty and hiding her abilities she always chose to hide her ability. Even now the thought of discovery terrified her. 

"I'm ready now."

"I figured as much."

Ri could only nod. She would give him the chance to join her, or run to another location to hide. The council would not leave him alone. He was potentially a threat.

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

Jaynor Wik stood outside of Ri's room waiting for her. When she emerged, he swept her up into a hug immediately. Ri couldn't understand his interest in her but she had kept him at a distance for a while now. There had been a time when she had considered him as a partner, but he was devoted to the Jedi code in its entirety.

With all her secrets... She couldn't get that close. She admired the stalwart Jedi. He was free to believe in every line, every word of the Jedi code. Something always held Ri back. Revealing herself meant being stuck on Coruscant for the rest of her days. And if Ri was honest with herself she didn't know that she wouldn't fight her way out just to have that choice.  

Jaynor, while handsome and appealing came from a wealthy family from the core worlds. He would not understand her hesitancy at hiding her gift for seeing the future. In fact he would be the first one to see her locked in the Temple and would not feel guilty about forcing her to stay. It would be his duty.

He was a fellow Jedi Knight. They had trained together. Ri had surpassed him in her training going on to become a Battle Master and learning Vaapad from her Master. Vaapad was forbidden to most of the other Jedi, considered too close to the Dark Side. 

Ri had ended their budding relationship when Seneschal decided to teach it to her. She could honestly say that she didn't see him in her future.

 _I never wanted anything from him_ , Ri reminded herself as he set her down again.

"Ri! I wanted to see if you were all right." He smiled down at her. His light brown eyes and sandy colored hair caught the sun and flashed down at her. It only made the irritation she felt grow stronger. And the guilt. 

He frowned sensing her mood. "I'm ready to go if you are." He did know her well at least.  He did care but Ri was not interested in settling down. Not yet.

Ri nodded forcing a smile. Everyone knew her disposition. He linked his arm through hers. "Let's get off this rock."

"So who is this Sith who saved you? The counsel has been talking about it, and they sent a delegation." He frowned, "They haven't spoken of the details since they returned, but they want you to go now?"

"I know him." Ri felt relieved when Seneschal's ship was in view. The hustle of the spaceport all around them calmed her nerves. They would soon launch into the black of space. She could feel Jaynor's questioning stare at the top of her head. They moved towards the space port at a quick pace. "We were orphans together." She explained.

Jaynor nodded, waiting for more details. "How did he end up as a Sith?" he finally asked.

Ri hesitated remembering the last day She had seen Klayton before Yavin 4. Her jaw clenched. Her grip on his arm had tightened for a moment. Jaynor paused for a moment. "I'm guessing it was a bad day."

"You have no idea. They grabbed me first and he tried to save me, they ended up taking him instead." It was out and she heard Jaynor's sudden intake of breath. It was a life debt that she owed Klayton, she told herself. She wasn't even going to explain a life debt to Jaynor. It was another part of Dageli culture he wouldn't understand. Jedi were expected to be fully Jedi. But in the same way that Klayton had been taken by the Sith, Ri had been taken by the Jedi, "saving" her. She didn't begrudge this, but there were customs that she wasn't willing to part with. It was not like she was going to "freed" from the Temple with her abilities.

Jaynor pulled her to a halt meters from Seneschal's vessel. "Ri, you should let someone in, talk about things."

Ri looked up at him again remembering a time when she very much wanted to. "I'm fine," she said. "Let's just go." She pulled away from him and started walking.

Jaynor stood behind her for a moment and then followed onto the ship aware that he pushed too much. Ri had always closed up tight when he asked about her home and childhood. He'd gotten little glimpses here and there. She fascinated him with her keeping of her home customs. She looked out of place among the other Jedi.  Ri was a puzzle that refused to be solved. He very much wanted to.


	4. Chapter 4

The visions came and went.

Ri was uncertain of their order and could barely place them in the past or the future. At times they didn't make sense. She was swimming through a vast ocean of memories that were her's but fell out of place and time.

Klayton teasing her as a child.

Seeing him again on Yavin 4.

Both of them standing in a sandy desert surround by dead bodies. Klayton moving around them, lifting hoods and checking faces. What were they looking for? When she tried seeing the answer the vision spun away from her.

Klayton running through a dark tunnel alone. He was communicating with her but she was... somewhere else? She was shouting at him to not give up. The vision dissolved when she tried to see her own surroundings.

Klayton standing with her in the Jedi Council. Their gazes locked on him as he tried to explain what they were up against. As she strained to hear him, she lost that vision as well.

He had a tight grip on her hand and he turned to her asking, "Where are we?" They were on a hill together, the entirety of the solar system laid out in front of them.

The stars winking out, blackness stretching across the cosmos.

A strange voice speaking: "All will be mine."

And finally the strangest of all, Klayton pressing her against the wall and dropping his face down towards her and crushing his lips against hers...

Startled Ri's eyes snapped open and she was momentarily blinded by bright lights. Her hand flew up to cover her eyes and she took stock of her surroundings. She was in the Infirmary on Coruscant. A groan escaped her lips before she could suppress it.

The Jedi Temple sat on a concentration of what was considered Light Side energy on Coruscant. The infirmary was at the heart of it.

For Ri, it meant every time she closed her eyes to sleep, she had a vision. Oddly enough no one had ever discovered her secret. It meant living in the Temple of the Prophets for the rest of your days, writing down what you saw. Ri surmised that there had been no living Jedi with a connection to the Future like her for generations. It was not a natural dark side ability but it appeared to have been lost to the light as well.

Or maybe we're not as much in the light as we think we are.

A shadow filled the doorway. "I see you are awake?" Seneschal her former Master moved into the room. He grabbed the plain white chair that was next to the door and pulled it closer to the bed sinking into it. His long white hair pulled back over his shoulders was the only betrayal of his age.

"How long have I been here?"

"A month," he admitted.

Ri stifled another groan. A month? Impossible. 

"I can see you are not happy to be here." Seneschal grinned. It was no secret that Ri spent most of her time off Coruscant fighting. She'd been on many battlefields, preferring to avoid the Temple if she could help it. She had thus far avoiding taking on a padawan as well.

"Merda!" She muttered to herself, cursing in her native Dageli. Seneschal shook his head. Her habits from home still permeated her vocabulary. Her common was clean, but he was glad that Dagelon was so far out on the outer rim that most beings were unfamiliar with the language.

"What happened on Yavin 4?" He asked, lowering his voice, his eyes searching hers. He was always to the point. 

Ri turned away, prefering to stare at the floor. "I was hoping you could tell me. I don't remember much before..." Klayton attacked me.

That didn't come out of her mouth. Her memory started to clear further. Fuzzy memories of Klayton fighting his Master, seeing a red light saber coming down on her. Klayton ultimately killing him. The memories came back faster. He had looked inside her mind, it was the worst experience she'd ever had fighting with a Sith.

He'd killed his Master and not her.

Why? Where was he? She stared at Seneschal for a moment, she had no answers. She could feel him reaching out, attempting to gauge her mind. She said nothing further.

"He must care for you very much to do what it looked like he did." His eyes searched hers. "To betray his own and not kill you. That takes a lot of strength."

"I am not sure I understand." She was still trying to process the whirlwind of visions she'd experienced. The last one was the most unsettling, and the most unlikely. Worse because it was the last, it was the most vivid.

"You know the tests Sith go through."

Ri did understand. They severed their connections to their home by killing someone they were close to. Something that meant they could never return, they were fully committed to their path.

He chose me. She was startled at the thought when it burst upon her. Klayton had chosen her over the Sith. He could return, except he hadn't...

Seneschal carried on. "When I came upon you both, he was holding you up. I did not think he was going to let you go, on the contrary...I thought he might actually fight me." Ri came back to what her former Master was saying.

"So...he just left?"

Seneschal nodded. "Stepped out into the night and vanished."

Ri said nothing to that. The memories were coming back. She remembered sobbing into Klayton's chest now, she had been in a lot of pain. He hadn't come back with her after all...but...

He had held her...until Seneschal arrived.

And the visions...were they going to come to pass or a stream that was passing away quickly? The future wasn't set in stone. She knew this, but it didn't stop the possibilities from each line. A single tiny stream started out making it's way towards an ocean on many worlds. But even in the earliest stages a single pebble could disrupt its course. Eventually it would go so far and become so fixed in its course that nothing would stand in it's way. Ri pondered for a moment. Was she the pebble or the stream?

"You want to find him." It wasn't a question. Ri's eyes snapped up to Seneschal's and she nodded.

"I have been looking for your friend." He folded his hands across his lap as a mischievous smirk spread across his face. The seriousness of the conversation eased.

Rí sat up straighter. "And?"

"It seems he has quite a gift for mind control, unparalleled mental abilities…"

Seneschal noticed her puzzled look and grinned. "We found him on Telos. Living alone, it's another border world, barely populated, probably because of it's location. From what I understand he shows up for food and supplies and heads out into the Mountains again."

"Food and supplies…" Rí repeated, not sure if she was hearing him correctly. She stared at Seneschal.

"We did send a four party delegation," Seneschal said. He couldn't quite hide the amusement in his voice.

Rí wasn't sure what was so funny. "What did they do?"

"What did THEY do?" He repeated. "They did nothing, he ordered them to return to the Temple… in fact he controlled them. We aren't sure how but he did not harm them in anyway. He simply sent them home."

Rí's mind was racing.

Klayton was on Telos.

She wasn't going to have to find him.

Maybe he would talk to her.

Maybe, just maybe, she was the stream, or the river rushing towards whatever the Force was guiding her towards.

"What happened on Yavin 4 with the other Sith? You haven't answered question. The other Sith was fried. Did he do that?" Seneschal's voice pulled her out of her own thoughts. She dragged her eyes towards him.

"The other Sith attacked me." Rí pondered explaining the rest and just left it at that. It was some of the truth, or at least as much as she wanted to divulge.

Seneschal sighed. "I'm going to give you permission to use my ship for the next sixty days. The council sees him— "

"Klayton."

"… sees Klayton, as a problem. He's a wayward Sith but he's inside our boundary. They were hoping because he saved you that you could go and speak with him."

"He wants to see me?"

"I didn't say that, he doesn't seem to want to see anyone. But the council wishes you to go. He may or may not want to see you."

Rí looked up at him. She was not sure she'd heard him correctly. She thought she would have to sneak to Telos.

"You look surprised."

"Sorry, I… do you think he'll speak with me?"

Seneschal paused for a moment. He remembered seeing the way that Klayton had held Rí when she was semi-conscious. "I think that he must have cared very much for you to stop another Sith from killing you."

"And I can go alone?"

Seneschal hesitated. "You can meet Klayton alone…but we've been ordered to go with you."

"We?" She gave him a pointed look, dread setting in. Merda! She immediately knew who they had chosen to go with her and Seneschal. A string of curses in her home tongue erupted in her mind.

"When can we leave?"

"When you are ready, we figured you'd need a few days…and the council wants to have a word. And by word they want to yell at you for a bit on being reckless...again." He placed a hand on her arm. "Ri, the council sees Klayton as a threat. You must convince him to join with us. Or at least aid us. He's quite powerful, he would have to be to defy that kind of order. If he does not, at some point they will send someone to deal with him. He is inside the Republic Boundary. While he is not bothering anyone currently they won't let him stay there forever. You know that."

"I'm ready now."

"I figured as much."

Ri could only nod. It did not bode well that he would join them, he'd left her on Yavin 4. It should have been the end of the matter. She'd freed him and he'd made his choice.

But the council would not leave him alone. He was potentially a threat or potentially an ally. None of her visions gave her a clue as to either.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jaynor Wik stood outside of Ri's room waiting for her. When she emerged, he swept her up into a hug immediately. Ri couldn't understand his interest in her but she had kept him at a distance for a while now. There had been a time when she had considered him as a partner, but he was devoted to the Jedi code in its entirety.

With all her secrets, Ri couldn't afford to be that close with anyone.

Jaynor, while handsome and appealing came from a wealthy family, from the core worlds. He did not understand the extreme poverty she had crawled from. Nor would he understand her hesitancy at hiding her gift for seeing the future. In fact he would be the first one to see her locked in the Temple and would not feel guilty about forcing her to stay. It would be his duty.

He was a fellow Jedi Knight. They had trained together. Ri had surpassed him in her training going on to become a Battle Master and learning Vaapad from her Master. Vaapad was forbidden to most of the other Jedi, considered too close to the Dark Side. Ri had ended their budding relationship when Seneschal decided to teach it to her. She could honestly say that she didn't see him in her future.

I never wanted anything from him, Ri thought darkly to herself as he released her.

"Ri! I wanted to see if you were all right." He smiled down at her. His light brown eyes and sandy colored hair caught the sun and flashed down at her. It only made the irritation she felt grow stronger.

He frowned sensing her mood. "I'm ready to go if you are." He did know her well at least. She felt guilty immediately. It was't his fault.

Ri nodded forcing a smile. Everyone knew her disposition. He linked his arm through hers, "let's get off this rock."

"So who is this Sith who saved you? The counsel has been talking about it, and they sent a delegation." He frowned, "They haven't spoken of the details since they returned, but they want you to go now?"

"I know him." Ri felt relieved when Seneschal's ship was in view. The hustle of the spaceport all around them calmed her nerves. They would soon launch into the black of space.

She could feel Jaynor's questioning stare to the top of her head. They moved towards the space port at a quick pace. "We were orphans together."

Jaynor nodded, waiting for more details. "How did he end up as a Sith," he finally asked.

Ri hesitated remembering the last day She had seen Klayton before Yavin 4. Her jaw clenched. Her grip on his arm had tightened. Jaynor paused for a moment. "I'm guessing it was a bad day."

"You have no idea," she whispered. "They had grabbed me first and he tried to save me, they ended up taking him instead." It was out and she heard Jaynor's sudden intake of breath. It was a life debt that she owed Klayton she told herself. She wasn't even going to explain a life debt to Jaynor. It was another part of Dageli culture he wouldn't understand. Jedi were expected to be fully Jedi. But in the same way that Klayton had been taken by the Sith, Ri had been taken by the Jedi, "saving" her. In the back of her mind, Jedi or otherwise, she owed Klayton a life debt she couldn't afford to pay.

Jaynor pulled her to a halt meters from Seneschal's vessel. "Ri, you should let someone in, talk about things."

Ri looked up at him again remembering a time when she very much wanted to. "I'm fine," she said. "Let's just go." She pulled away from him and started walking. But she wasn't fine. She was remembering

Ri noticed a group of children gathered around a boy in the far corner. An odd sensation came over her. He was familiar and yet she knew they had never met. She felt drawn to him as he tapped out a complicated set of rhythms with two random sticks and a bucket. The rest of the kids watched fascinated. She pushed her way into the front stared.

A surprised expression crossed his face. He missed a beat. He looked up and stared at her and their gazes locked.

Ri blushed and backed away trying to melt into the group again. He finished his set and then tucked the sticks into his pockets.

"Ok, I'm done all you, di Dageli!" he got plenty of groans but the kids melted away. There wasn't anything else that would make him stand out. His eyes were dark brown, his nose could only be described as hawkish, his hair hung down to his shoulders in wild disarray.

He turned and ambled straight to Ri.

"You are a Force Sensitive," he said simply. He stared at her and Ri felt her skin crawl. She hugged her small bag tighter across her chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do," he insisted. "You're a Force Sensitive. Like me."

"What's a Force Sensitive?" She whispered looking around. Ri had never heard the term before, let alone known what to call the abilities she'd had to hide. Even from her parents.

She thought she'd done well, it was her secret forever. Until this random stranger picked it out of a crowd.

"You can sense others," he said. "At least you will be able to eventually." This made sense, as she'd felt drawn to him. He sat back and gave her an even look. "I've been hoping the Jedi will show up eventually and take me to Coruscant, or one of the other Temples."

"Coruscant?" Ri had never heard of the place. The Jedi were a slightly mystical group to her, dangerous, distant.

"Mining family?" The boy said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yes." Ri looked at the floor.

He shrugged and stuck out his hand, "I'm Klayton."

"Klayton what?" She took his hand and shook it.

"Just Klayton," he had distant look in his eyes, and Ri fresh from her own trauma chose not to inquire further. IF she asked, she would probably have to tell. And he already knew too much about her.

"Royalty or bastard?" It was an old saying on Dagelos, as everyone always knew who birthed them. Not necessarily who fathered them. Klayton snorted but didn't bother to respond.

The royal family had never used a last name. Although when meeting the representatives from the republic they had simply responded with di Dageli, of Dagelos.

"Ri Marek, but I guess it's just Ri now."

"You can't just jump up to Royal by dropping your last name!" Klayton held up his hands in mock horror and Ri felt some of the numbness leaving her. She took her bag off her chest and put it on her back to carry instead, no longer needing it as a protective barrier.

"What do we do here?" Ri glanced around. Children milled everywhere, there was no order. No one was organized enough to take on managing a bunch of orphaned kids.

"Do?" Klayton paused in his thinking. "I don't know. I suppose we'll have to go to the Jedi Temple and train to fight the Sith."

Jaynor stood behind her for a moment and then followed onto the ship aware that he pushed too much. Ri had always closed up tight when he asked about her home and childhood. He'd gotten little glimpses here and there and she fascinated him. Ri was a puzzle that refused to be solved. He very much wanted to.


End file.
